What is meant by a Chemical Equilibrium?
In: 4
When you have a chemical reaction that is reversible (X + Y <-> XY, it can go in either direction), it will run in either direction simultaneously. It’s just that depending on the concentrations (or pressures, for gasses) of all the parts, one direction is more likely. But if it can run more one way OR the other, there obviously is a point in the middle where they run both ways equally. That is Equilibrium. The reactions are balanced. From the outside it looks like nothing changes. As mentioned, where that balance is depends on the concentrations/pressures of all the parts, in very specific ways.
If a reaction is NOT reversible, there can be a point where it slows down or stops (but doesn’t reverse), but it might as well run to completion. Explosives are an example, most explosives will not just “stop” because they’ve “exploded enough” (at least to my knowledge).
Latest Answers